


Queer Corner

by providing_leverage



Series: Short stuff [6]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is gay, Clary is bi, F/M, Jace is bi, Jace is trans, Luke Is A Good Dad, M/M, Maryse and her book shop, Simon is pan, all of this is relevant, izzy is bi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21693043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/providing_leverage/pseuds/providing_leverage
Summary: Maryse turned her eyes to the frustratingly tall shelf, one of two that made up their "Queer Corner". It had been originally set up by Alec, who had apparently bought the tallest shelves available.But now Alec was a college student with a boyfriend, living in the dorms, who didn't have time to come home and put books on high shelves for his poor, short, mother.In which Maryse owns a bookstore which is kinda famous for being a LGBT safe space and Luke needs some help
Relationships: Luke Garroway/Maryse Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood (mentioned)
Series: Short stuff [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1477400
Comments: 2
Kudos: 116





	Queer Corner

**Author's Note:**

> Im so mad, I don't know you could copy all the words from a Google doc by pressing Select All instead of dragging the mouse all the way down the page. This will make my life so much easier guys

Sometimes Maryse really missed Alec. All the time, for the obvious reason of loving her oldest son, but occasionally the loss of him around hit her hard.

Especially when she was trying to restock the highest shelves and the stool was nowhere to be found. She'd been spoiled be her tree of a child, Maryse decided, coming off the tips of her toes and sighing heavily. 

The cover of  _ Red, White, and Royal Blue  _ gleamed in her hand, the two main characters looking up at her mockingly. Maryse turned her eyes to the frustratingly tall shelf, one of two that made up their "Queer Corner". It had been originally set up by Alec, who had apparently bought the tallest shelves available. 

But now Alec was a college student with a boyfriend, living in the dorms, who didn't have time to come home and put books on high shelves for his poor, short, mother. (Not that she didn't want him to follow his dreams, or didn't like Magnus. She was just a bit biter about how much of her son's time they took, time that used to be hers.)

Maryse cast a glance around her bookstore, looking for something to help her. At this rate, she might need to close early and go to the store to buy a new stool, since no one seemed to know where it had gotten put. 

Then she sees the rolling chair behind her desk, and has a truly terrible idea. 

÷÷÷

Luke looks down at the paper in his hands, the address written on it, then back up at the store he was parked in front of,  _ Truebooks. _

He turns the key of his patrol car, killing the engine and steps out into the winter chill. It's only four thirty, but already dark. Carefully, he folds the paper and tucks it in his back pocket. A bell rings lightly when he pulls the door open. 

The first thing he registers about the store is it's warmth. Not just the heat of the place, especially compared to outside, but how comfy the place is.

Dark wood shelves match the floor, which is mostly covered in a variety of mismatched rugs. It's lit mostly by strategically placed lamps and the fairly lights that wrap around the bookshelves. 

The second thing Luke notices is the quiet music from unseen speakers. Unlike every other store right now, it isn't Christmas music. It's vaguely familiar, meaning he probably heard it on the radio or it's something Simon or Clary likes to play from another room. 

_ Am I the king of nothing at all, and you're the queen of nothing at all,  _ the man croons. It's not terrible.

To his left is what he assumes is the checkout desk. To his right is- a woman. A woman standing on a wheeled chair, trying to get a book onto a packed shelf with obvious effort. 

With a cry of triumph, she pushes the final book into place. It quickly turns to one of distress when she loses her balance and begins to fall. 

Luke's feet are moving before he even realizes what's happening, his cop training and instincts kicking in to move him right behind the woman, the perfect spot of her to tumble into his outstretched arms.

"Ah, um." The woman's eyes flutter open. They're warm and brown, and Luke feels the urge to never let their gazes drop, to stare into them forever. "Hello."

"Hello," Luke replies. It comes out a bit lower than he intended, almost a growel. He clears his throat and carefully releases the woman safely onto the floor. 

She smiles up at him. "Hi, thanks for the save. I'm Maryse, welcome to  _ Truebooks _ **.** "

"You're very welcome. Luke. Garroway." He offers her his hand, which she takes. She has a strong handshake. 

"So, Luke. What can I do for you?" Maryse asks him.

"I was looking for a very specific type of book, and someone pointed me your way. She said something about a corner? I'm still not sure exactly what that means."

Maryse's face lights up. "Oh, our Queer Corner." She gestures to the shelf she had been restocking a minute ago. 

It's one of two shelves pushed together at a right angle. The shelves are notably taller than the others in the store. They're also decorated with rainbow coded strings of Christmas lights.  _ Queer Corner  _ is written in rainbow marker on a battered and faded peice of paper, taped to the top of one shelf.

There's an overwhelming amount of books crammed into it. 

"Right," Luke says. "Thank you."

Maryse must see the looking his eyes because she laughs again. "Yeah, it's a lot. I pride myself on that fact. Maybe I could help if I knew what you were looking for?"

Luke nods. "Well, I have this stepdaughter. Though her dad's never been in the picture so normally I just refer to her as my daughter straight up. A few days ago, her and her best friend sat me down. They both seemed really nervous, and I thought they were going to tell me they were taking a second try at dating.

"Which. I love Simon like my own kid, don't get me wrong. But they were kind of horrible together. But that's not what happened. Instead they both...came out to me. Clary as bisexual and Simon as Pansexual. I smiled and hugged them, told them I loved them both. And it's true! But Simon had to explain to me what pansexual meant, and I'm only barly familiar with what bisexual means, and I just…" Luke trails off, unsure how to word it.

But Maryse understands. "You feel like you're going to mess it up. Hurt them, on accident, because you don't know anything about this important part of who they are. And you are afraid, because this isn't something you know how to protect them in."

He nods, amazed. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"Personal experience. I'll tell you why I write up a recommendation list."

He follows Maryse to the desk, bringing the chair with him. She smiles gratefully when she notices.

"Thanks, again, for the catch. In retrospect, it wasn't the best idea. But I don't have a stool, and I'm not used to having to restock the Corner, since that's usually Alec's job."

"Alec?" Luke opts to stand on the other side of the desk, not wanting to crowd her.

Maryse hands him a framed photo sitting next to the computer before beginning to rifle through the drawers of her desk. It's of five people standing in a park, arms around each other. Three young teens, a boy who can't be older than five, and Maryse."

"The tallest, and my oldest son. He's off to college now. The Queer Corner was actually his brain child, shortly after he came out to me as gay. I reacted much the same way you did. The other three are Jace, Izzy, and Max. Jace is adopted, hence the hair."

The smiling blond really does stand out in the sea of dark hair. 

"Aha." Maryse pulls a pen and notebook from a drawer. "But Alec was only the beginning. In the next three months, Izzy and Jace both came out to me as well. Her as pansexual and Jace as bi. And three weeks after that, Jace came to me and told me he was pretty sure he was trans. That picture was taken two years ago, shortly after he cut his hair.

"Given three out of four of my kids, to my knowledge at least, identify as something other than cishet, the Queer Corner is really important to me, even if I can't take credit for much of it. I love having a safe place to aid people in figuring themselves out, and to help people in a position I was once in. Like you."

Somehow while telling that story, Maryse had been writing as well. "Here's a list of books with bi or pan main characters, and some helpful reference nonfiction books that I recommend, most of which we carry. I also included some websites and YouTubers who I found helpful when my kids came out. And remember, your best source of information is probably your kids themselves. They almost definitely won't mind answering any questions you might have."

A thrill shoots up Luke's spine when he takes the paper, his hand brushing hers. "Thank you. Becky, Simon's sister, is the one who pointed me in this direction. Simon came out to her a while ago, and she said this you and your um, flag meetings? They helped her a lot."

"Oh, yes. I host a PFLAG meeting here every other Wednesday. Becky Lewis, right? Good kid, very sweet. Always brings cupcakes."

"Yeah. PFLAG?"

"It's an ally group. You are more than welcome to come."

Luke nods. "That sounds fun. Thank you for all of this."

"Thanks for the daring rescue. Now, about those books…"

Luke walks out of  _ Truebooks  _ with a heavy bag in hand, but light steps. This trip was a lot more of a success than he'd predicted. He felt better about his ability to properly support Clary and Simon, and had made a new acquaintance that could easily turn into a friend.

Then again, maybe it could be more. As they'd picked out books and discussed PFLAG meetings, Maryse had mentioned no longer being married to the father of her children. Had dropped a few lines that might have been flirtatious.

For the first time since Jocelyn had died, Luke lets himself feel the draw of another person, had let himself smile and possibly flirt back a bit. 

When he gets home and puts the bag on the table, his receipt falls to the floor. Picking it up, he notices works scribbled on the back.

_ I look forward to seeing you again, at the next meeting. But perhaps if you having pressing questions or finish one of these books, we could grab a coffee and talk about it.  _ Followed by a phone number.

Yes, a very good night indeed.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> How you enjoyed this! It's been sitting in my docs for a while now


End file.
